Troop 88 Scouts Go Mining for Merit Badges

Editor's note: The following information was provided by Hopatcong's Tom Lupo.

Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg held its first-ever Camp-O-Ree for nearly 300 participants from the Sussex District of the Boy Scouts of America.

Campers enjoyed three days and two nights on this historic landmark and had the rare opportunity to earn merit badge requirements for: Emergency Preparedness, Astronomy, Pioneering, and Geology all on site.

This was not your typical guided tour, this was an Adventure that gave Scouts the rare privilege of going where the public never goes. Troop 88 of Hopatcong and all scout participants were able to climb a conveyor belt tower that brought ore from the mine shaft and delivered it to the train cars, enter upper and lower mines and tunnels, marvel at florescent rocks, gems and minerals and experience what life was like for miners deep inside the side of a mountain.

Sterling Hill Mining Museum is a world-famous mineral deposit which is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, understanding, and appreciation of the history of mining, unique to the State of New Jersey through scientific research and educational programs.

Troop 88 would like to thank Patriots Path Council and the Sterling Hill Mining Museum staff for coordinating such an exciting Scouting Weekend. It was an honor and privilege that the B.S.A. hope will be an Annual Event for years to come.